Prevent Overeating with Just One Word?

I had an epiphany about my overeating

One of my favorite bloggers, Karen Anderson, chooses a word of the yearas an alternative to making goals and resolutions. Last year, she told the readers of this blog how you can choose your own word of the year. I didn’t do it then, but this year, I had an epiphany and a word just kind of fell from it. It was so obvious, I knew it had to be mine.

As I was thinking about what I could do differently this year to make self-care a priority, I realized that one of the quickest ways I become downtrodden and discouraged is by thinking about the future, or rather how I’m going to get there – to that “far-off land” where my true health and my healthiest weight are. And this is when I become particularly vulnerable to emotional overeating.

Do thoughts like these happen to you?

I still have a long ways to go to be as fit as I’d like, but it looks so far away…

When will I start seeing results from X, Y, or Z? I’ve been working so hard!

This just seems like too much work. I can’t imagine continuing to do this for X number of weeks or months. (This last one is clearly a thought pattern that stems from restrictive eating, which I don’t do, but I still struggle with trying to “be good” and perfectionist thinking.)

I can only do what I can TODAY

Even after working at Green Mountain for two years, diet mentality thoughts and all-or-nothing thoughts still crop up at times. I guess it takes time to undo 37 years worth of thinking, but the difference is, I’m now aware that these kinds of thinking don’t help me and that a different attitude is needed for long-term success.

That different attitude – and my word of the year – is TODAY. Focusing on making the healthiest choices I can TODAY, not tomorrow or the next day or the day after that, feels a lot more doable and so much less overwhelming.

If I can take just one day at a time and put my best foot forward TODAY, I have faith that it’s eventually going to be a whole lot of healthier days that add up. It’s when I start thinking about tomorrow and the day after that and next week and next month, I start to think along the lines of “screw it… it’s just too far away, just too much work, it will never be enough.”

So, here’s how I plan to implement my word of the year.

Focus on feeling good TODAY by moving my body and feeding it with powerful, supportive foods (not vampire foods).

Pay attention to how making these healthier actions helped me feel and perform TODAY.

When I start that “snowballing” thought process, step back and ask, what can I do right now, TODAY, to be a healthier me?

Make it my goal to go to bed each night knowing I did the best I could TODAY.

I feel confident that putting my focus back on TODAY will naturally lead to a better tomorrow, so that’s where my head is going to stay.

So, what do you think? Are you going to have a word of the year? If so, please share!

6 responses to “Prevent Overeating with Just One Word?”

Thanks Emily! Isn’t is kind of crazy how our “epiphanies” are sometimes just so obvious we can’t see them? When I feel overwhelmed, I try to push those feelings off with food. And I often feel overwhelmed when I think of drastic measures like “overhauling my lifestyle.” But if I can just focus on the day at hand and making the best decisions I can make on that day, then it doesn’t feel like a “lifestyle change,” it just feels like self-care. Maybe what I’m really adverse to is the term “lifestyle change.” That’s a post for another day.

Totally love this and smiling for many reasons.. it’s perfect for you for right-now/today. But also because I am in the midst of writing for our upcoming Behavior Bulletin Board on Word for the Year for participants because I love the concept so much and have been doing it for years. I’ll tell you mine next time I see you (Tuesday), you won’t be surprised.

Lisa…”Today” is too long for me, too much…but “right now” is not. That’s about all I can do. The other words that help me is as I’m struggling I ask myself “o.k. Harriet, what’s good?” And in spite of an eating food “fit”…..self-compassion comes through because I realize how hard I work and that each moment is new, and free and clear and has possibilities of safety and peace.